Tesla forced to restrict FSD Beta and Autosteer

NHTSA began an investigation into Tesla’s FSD last year and that investigation turned into engineering analysis last June. Today NHTSA announced the first recall of all Tesla vehicles equipped with FSD Beta. The recall will be addressed by a software update but Tesla will have to mail all the owners by April 15 to inform them about it.

This is just the first finding by NHTSA, as the investigation and engineering analysis progress there are likely to be more recalls. Tesla will have to issue a software patch limiting certain behaviors of the FSD to all Model S and Model X vehicles, all Model 3 made between 2017 and 2023 and all Model Y made from 2020 and equipped with the FSD Beta upgrade. In total that means 362,758 electric cars needing a software upgrade - or in this case, a downgrade.

NHTSA gave this reason behind the recall order: “The FSD Beta system may allow the vehicle to act unsafe around intersections, such as traveling straight through an intersection while in a turn-only lane, entering a stop sign-controlled intersection without coming to a complete stop, or proceeding into an intersection during a steady yellow traffic signal without due caution.”

On top of that, NHTSA found the FSD’s response to changes in speed limits insufficient, the duration of stops too short and yellow-light behavior together with operating speed of the system in a need of adjusting. Lane observation rules were found to be vague and inconsistent as well.

NHTSA followed with the statement: “Analysis and testing performed as part of NHTSA’s Engineering Analysis (EA22-002) revealed that in certain situations, Tesla’s Autosteer on City Streets (Full Self Driving (FSD) Beta), led to an unreasonable risk to motor vehicle safety based on insufficient adherence to traffic safety laws.”

Tesla will most likely downplay this recall, we can expect to see some lighthearted tweets from Elon over the next few days but the issue remains - the NHTSA found the FSD Beta being an unreasonable risk to motor vehicle safety. While the recall may fix it, the floodgates of legal actions against the company may start to open up.

This is just the first action by the NHTSA based on their ongoing investigation. There is no telling what else they will find - will there be more? Or is this it, and Tesla’s efforts to automate driving get vindicated? It’s never easy to be a pioneer, that’s for sure. But being a pioneer doesn’t mean forgetting about your responsibilities and putting people at risk is a step too far.

Via